THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



265 



cral instances the walls were lined with 

 what may be called a curtain of sand, of 

 different color, the particles of which are 

 held together mysteriously, and the whole 

 suspended against the walls of the cell. 

 This curtain is readily removed, leaving 

 the hard, smooth wall with its original fin- 

 ish, showing clearly that after the formation 

 of the chamber and the completion of the 

 walls, the yellow sand had been brought up 

 from a lower stratum, from two to three 

 feet down, and worked into a loose drap- 

 ery of hitherto unheard of texture. Dr. 

 McCook assures me that after the pupa 

 state, ants cannot make web. It may be in 

 a sense true, but certainly these ants use a 

 fine, white filament, for which I know no 

 other name than web. 



The leaf-cuttings are manufactured into 

 a porous, spongy material, which becomes 

 crisp when e.xposed to the air, and in which 

 the young ants are reared. I have usually 

 found this material either on the bottom 

 of the cell or chamber, or else filling the 

 same loosely from top to bottom. I was 

 not prepared, therefore, for what met my 

 eyes in the last chamber examined. Cut- 

 ting away the side cautiously, I gained a 

 view that surprised me beyond expression. 

 I could have doubted my own eyes, if such 

 a thing were possible. The material de- 

 scribed above, made of leaves and other 

 matter, was suspended from the roof of a 

 cell three and a half inches high and wide, 

 extending nearly to the pebble-covered 

 floor. The arrangement was like that of 

 the comb in a bee-hive. There were three 

 combs, or layers, each shorter than that by 

 its side. These were full of small, irregu- 

 lar pockets, so made as to take advantage 

 of all the material used, but not evenly 

 arranged side by side. Each jjocket had 

 been completed by itself, and without 

 reference to those about it. They were 

 designed for the young ants, but in this 

 case were empty. I am persuaded that this 

 comb, if I may so call it, is made of the 

 partially masticated cuttings bound to- 

 gether with web-like filaments. Wash- 

 ing a little of it in alcohol and placing 

 it under the glass, I distinctly saw white- 



web completely covering some of the 

 particles. The arrangement of the 

 delicate architecture was disturbed in 

 the attempt to remove it, and still further 

 in the transit home. Still, it is in fair con- 

 dition for study, and, being under glass, 

 does not change. 



P. S. — The harvesting ants reported in 

 last Entomoi-ogist are species of Pheidole. 

 The larger one is pronounced by Forel a 

 new variety of P. pensylvanica, the smaller 

 is P. megacephala. 



BIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON SILPHA RAM08A. 



BV CARL F. GI5SLEK, RROOKLYN, N. V. 



In May, '79, I received from Drum-ma- 

 jor E. Scheller, Fort Vancouver, Washing- 

 ton Territory, a box containing three spec- 

 imens of CalosoDia tepidiim and a live pair 

 of Silpha ramosa. Having disposed of 

 the former, I kept the latter in order to 

 raise the larvte. 



[Fig. 14,5.] 



Silpha RA^^os\. — a, ophthalmic region; a rt, antennal ring ; 

 a 6, pigment spots (ocelli); b^ small maxillary process on 

 mando ; f , olfactory disc on second antennal joint ; d, an- 

 tenna, enlarged ; tr, usual form of egg. enlarged (after Gissler). 



As I am not aware that biographical 

 notes have ever been published on this 

 Coleopteron, the following will be of in- 

 terest to entomologists. 



Imago. The female is recognized by 

 its broader pygidium beset with very short 

 stiff bristles and a transverse elevation in- 

 dicating an eighth connate segment ; the 

 pygidium of $ is narrower, tips of genital 

 " armature " constantly sticking out, which 

 is also beset with long, stiff bristles. The 

 pygidium of the ? is always curved to- 

 ward the abdomen. 



They copulate every few hours, the $ 

 constantly pursues and annoys the ? , of- 

 ten snapping at the latter and biting into 



